1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to reaction material formed bodies and heat storage and release units.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, heat recovery systems for recovering and using heat sources such as waste heat, such as chemical heat pumps and adsorption refrigerators, have drawn attention in terms of saving energy.
According to common heat recovery systems, a reaction medium, a heat storage and release unit that exchanges heat with a heat storage material (hereinafter referred to as “reaction material”) that reversibly reacts with the reaction medium, an evaporator that evaporates the reaction medium, and a condenser that condenses the reaction medium are connected via an opening and closing mechanism. Furthermore, the heat storage and release unit commonly includes a heating medium channel in which a heating medium moves and a reaction material accommodating part that is thermally coupled to the heating medium channel and accommodates the reaction material.
In order to efficiently recover heat using a heat recovery system, it is preferable that the reaction material and a heat transfer surface thermally coupled to the heating medium channel be constantly in close contact. Therefore, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-286460 discloses the technique of causing an adsorption material (corresponding to a reaction material according to embodiments of the present invention) to adhere fast to the heat transfer surface using a binder in order to improve the heat transfer characteristic between the reaction material and the heat transfer surface.